playa
playa
Flat-bottomed depression that is periodically covered by water. Playas occur in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts in arid and semiarid regions. The water that periodically covers the playa slowly filters into the groundwater system or evaporates into the atmosphere, causing the deposition of salt, sand, and mud along the bottom and around the edges of the depression.
Variants of PLAYA
playa or pan or flat or dry lake
This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise.
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